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Texas Rangers trade rumors: New York Yankees Ivan Nova, Carlos Beltran, Andrew Miller and Michael Pineda are among the potential deadline acquisitions that the Texas Rangers have been in contact on, according to Joel Sherman.
Sherman says the Rangers are "among the most aggressive teams" in the starting pitching market, and have continued looking for a way to try to get Chris Sale or Chris Archer, while also looking at other lower-tier starters.
The Yankees are currently 6.5 games back in the A.L. East and 4 games back in the Wild Card, which puts them in a difficult situation...they aren't far enough out of the race that its a slam-dunk they should go into sell mode, particularly given that they are, you know, the Yankees. On the other hand, they are far enough out that they can't really justify buying.
Neither Nova nor Pineda have been good this season -- Nova has a 4.65 ERA and 4.84 FIP in 14 starts and 6 relief appearances, while Pineda has a 5.00 ERA in 20 starts, albeit against a 3.86 FIP. Pineda is a free agent after next season, and he's striking out a league-leading 10.7 batters per 9, so that may be someone you could acquire looking to capture some upside while having him beyond 2016. Nova, on the other hand, is a free agent after the season, and probably not a huge upgrade over the recently-acquired Lucas Harrell.
Both Miller and Beltran seem like longshots to me. The price on Miller, who is under contract through 2018, is going to be sky-high, especially after what Aroldis Chapman fetched via trade, and the Yankees don't have to move him for less than a huge haul. Beltran, meanwhile, is a solid switch-hitter who has a .305/.347/.548 slash line this year, and who is a free agent after the season; however, he's also not good defensively in the outfield and should realistically be limited to a DH role, and the Rangers seem more likely to allocate their resources towards pitching, even with Prince Fielder out, given the internal options they have for a COF/1B/DH role.